HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



37 



fl?e mean time, the people of this 

 country, even amidst their prepara- 

 tions, must not negledt their neces- 

 sary business. Mr. Whitbread con- 

 cluded by accusing ministers of in- 

 capacity, and an evident want of 

 system, in all their measures for the 

 defence of the country. 



Mr. Fox rose to advert to some 

 things which had been said in the 

 course of debate. Mr. Pitt had 

 found fault with the naval defence 

 of the country, and, as he was ex- 

 tremely partial to the first lord of 

 the admiralty, he must say, he wish- 

 ed he had had a better defender than 

 lord Castlereagh. That noble lord 

 spoke of thestate of our navy in 1 75.5, 

 and at periods that had nothing to 

 do with the question of what exer- 

 tions were necessary at the present 

 moment. He could not but take 

 notice of the inconsistency of the 

 ministers, when they circulated, with 

 great profusion, the opinion of the 

 attorney general, that volunteers 

 could not resign, and now, when 

 they say that it was always their in- 

 tention to give them the poMCr of 

 resignation ; and yet, although they 

 now said so, a secretary of state, in 

 the other house, had observed, that 

 the opinion of the attorney general 

 would be a sufficient guide for the 

 magistrates. He thought no severe 

 attendance or drills should be re- 

 quired of the volunteers, for fear of 

 disgusting them entirely. He dis- 

 approved of the language of Mr. se- 

 cretary Yorke, with respect to 

 those volunteers who did not imme- 

 diately conform to the wishes of 

 ministers, and he hoped the volun- 

 teers would never let themselves be 

 bullied out of their determination to 

 defend the country. He concluded 

 by expressing an opinion, that the 

 time muit shortly tome, when it 



would be absolutely necessary to 

 take an entire review of the condu6t 

 of ministers,with respeft to the sys- 

 tem they had adopted for the de- 

 fence of the country. 



The Chancellor of the Exchequer 

 was surprised, that those gentlemen 

 who found such fault with ministers, 

 for not clearing up this point of the 

 resignation of volunteers, did not 

 themselves take notice of it on for- 

 nicr opportunities. 



Mr. Grey disapproved of the 

 whole condu6t of ministers, with 

 rcspedlto the national defence. 



Captain Markham, (one of the 

 lords of the admiralty) vindicated 

 those entrusted with the administra- 

 tion of the naval department, against 

 the charges brought by Mr. Pitt. 



The bill was then read a second 

 time, and 



On the 29th, Mr. secretary 

 Yorke, in moving for the house 

 resolving itself into a committee, 

 wished that every discussion on the 

 principle should be postponed, un- 

 til the report was brought up. 



Mr. Francis did not rise to op- 

 pose the speaker leaving the chair, 

 but considered that such an insigni- 

 ficant bill as this, might well wait 

 until the great principle of our se- 

 curity, and the great cause of oar 

 danger, should be discussed. Th« 

 war, iu its progress, had fallen mi- 

 serably short of its promise in the 

 commencement. VVe went to war 

 for the purpose of preserving a bar- 

 fen rock in the .Mediterranean, and 

 scarcely was the war three months 

 old, when ministers circulated a 

 jdaii for fortifying the city of Lon- 

 don.^ Ever since that time, iill ouf 

 boast was, that we had defended 

 Great.]5ritiiii» and Ireland. This 

 was no great degree of glory to 

 obtain, with a garrispn of 000,000 



I) 4 men.. 



